It’s an early summer morning in Monument Canyon in Colorado National Monument. Hot already. I’m with my trail-running bestie running down a rocky stretch when we hear a friendly hello coming behind us. A nimble dark-haired guy politely angles by and then triples our pace, disappearing ahead quickly. Later, we realize we’ve had a flyby with Ryan Sullivan — local physician and ultrarunner who in the last few years has started to become a known and fierce competitor in big name trail ultra races nationwide. Sullivan moved to the Grand Valley in 2018 for his medical residency at St. Mary’s, and fell in love with the area while putting in the mileage to compete with the nation’s best in trail ultra endurance races.

Sullivan and his dog Willie on a training run near Crested Butte. *Photos courtesy of Ryan Sullivan.*

Result highlights for Sullivan from 2024 and early 2025 include fifth overall at the Gorge Waterfalls 100k in April where he ran under the previous course record set by Vincent Bouillard (who won the 2024 UTMB), second place at the 2024 JFK 50 Mile where he ran the sixth fastest time in the race’s history, a win at the Blue Sky Trail Marathon, first at the DC Peaks 55K, first at the Grand Mesa Ultras 30k, a win and course record at the Quebec Mega Trail 80k and an exciting third male at the Leadville 100 Mile finishing in a time of 17 hours, 21 minutes, 39 seconds.

We’re sitting at Copeka Coffee, and I’m trying to find out Sullivan’s secret sauce. How does he run so far and so fast? Is it his incredibly cute yellow lab Willie sitting with us, who joins him on many dog-friendly trail runs? Is it the perseverance that it took to accomplish the rigors of medical school and residency that he translates to the trail? Is it the proximity to the steep climbs on the Colorado National Monument in his backyard? “The access to the outdoors in Grand Junction is unrivaled,” Sullivan tells me. “I can run into the Monument from my front door; I have hundreds of miles of trails within a 15-minute drive in any direction, and we can get to altitude and mountainous terrain within two to three hours.”

Sullivan‘s training partner and friend, Chris Sovacol, tells me that from looking at Sullivan’s Strava over five or six segment climbs (Dugway, Serpents, Independence Climb, Liberty Cap and Corkscrew), he has logged over 550 miles alone on just those five climbs over the years and that he’s likely run over 1,000 miles on the monument during his short time living in Grand Junction. This does not include miles he’s logged on other trail systems in town. He’s steadily been increasing mileage over the years to 80, 90, 100 miles per week but knows when to back off to prevent injury.

Sullivan claims that one big change in the past few years for him has been simply getting more sleep. “My overall systemic stress levels finally came down once residency ended,” he explains. “Regular sleep schedule, working less, less stressful job and schedule regularity and predictability all played a part.”

Sullivan set the course record at Quebec Mega Trail 80K in July 2024.

Perhaps another ingredient to Sullivan’s recent success is community. Supported by a crew of local runners, Sullivan’s journey highlights the deep connections forged through endurance sports. “There’s an amazing running community here,” he explains, “and I feel lucky that I have such great friends to run with all the time.” He joined The Mesa Monument Striders when he moved to Grand Junction, where he met Sovacol, Max Robinson and Whit Blair among other fast competitive runners, whom he trains with regularly. “The Mesa Monument Striders host twice-a-week group runs with all different distances and pace groups, and put on all kinds of local events,” he adds. “They’re the most inclusive and welcoming group you could imagine, and the group runs are where a lot of my friends and I met our best friends when we moved to town.”

Sullivan typically starts weekday mornings with his friends, running a loop that includes the Fenceline, Corkscrew and Liberty Cap trails before returning home for coffee and heading to work. On weekends, he meets at local trailheads for longer runs linking trails throughout the Monument. When they’re not in “desert season,” they often train around Ouray for summer altitude training, and often travel to races to support and crew for each other in different events.

Beyond his impressive results, Sullivan is also unique in today’s hyper-connected world — he trains, competes and succeeds without leveraging social media for sponsorships, staying focused purely on the sport and the face-to-face camaraderie it brings. Aside from Strava, Sullivan can’t be found on social media at all. He’s sponsored by the Aravaipa Racing Team, which helps out with race fees, but he’s not required to post. He says that he’s just simply not interested, that he loves running, loves goals, but doesn’t need to prove anything. Yet he understands his privilege. Many athletes can’t afford to be pro without social media, but he’s already worked for the goal of a career in medicine, a yearslong endurance event in itself, and so running competitively is simply a gift to be enjoyed. According to Sovacol, “He stays present and thoroughly enjoys each moment. ‘You’ll have to pry my cold dead body from these trails,’ he once said. I know for a fact he meant it.”

Keep your eyes out for him when you’re on the trail — Sullivan has some serious racing coming up for summer and fall 2025, including the San Juan Solstice 50M in June, The High Lonesome 100 in July and Run Rabbit Run 100 in August.

**SULLIVAN’S FAVORITES**

**Trails before work**
Monument Canyon and Liberty Cap
**Post-run place to refuel**
Hot Tomato
**Shoes**
Adidas Adrivac Speed Ultra or the Norda 005
**Gear**
Janji half tights (for the pockets!) and Raide Research Belt for fluids/energy

Originally published in the summer 2025 issue of Spoke+Blossom.

Ryan Sullivan: Local Physician + Accomplished Ultrarunner